Albemarle

Monk’s Favorite Barbecue of 2021

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Monk: While my hunch is that I had roughly as much barbecue as last year, I suspect the ratio of mediocre barbecue to great barbecue was higher than in past years. There’s always highlights to pick out, but let’s hope next year is a more favorable ratio.

In alphabetical order:

Jon G’s remains the gold standard for the Charlotte area. And it seems that the rest of the southeast is starting to catch on with Eater Carolinas naming them “Barbecue Restaurant of the Year” and Texas Monthly barbecue editor Daniel Vaughn raving about them in an article from mid 2021. The future for Garren and Kelly remain bright.

Chopped pork sandwich from Noble Smoke – Charlotte, NC

Some of the meats at Noble Smoke can be a little hit or miss for me, but the Lexington-style chopped barbecue sandwich is ever reliable.

Speedy has said he often thinks the ribs at Peg Leg Porker are the best in the state of Tennessee, and who am I to argue? The full wings are also a must-order.

Randy’s ribs are a sub-regional variety with a sauce that I understand is found primarily in the Savannah area. It expanded my framework as to what barbecue is in different parts of the US.

Life-changing whole hog. So far I’ve only made it to Sam Jones’ outpost in Raleigh but I can’t wait to try this same tray at Skylight Inn this spring.

Sausage, wings, hash and rice, ribs, brisket, and turkey from Sweet Lew’s BBQ – Charlotte, NC (link to post)

Between the house-made sausage, the barbecue hash, and Lewis Donald’s ever-constant tweaking of his main meats, Sweet Lew’s continues to evolve, and I’m here for the the journey.

It’s a shame that Whispering Pines was takeout only but I’ll make the hour drive to Albemarle again I’m sure. Great Lexington-style barbecue.

Whispering Pines BBQ – Albemarle, NC

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Name: Whispering Pines BBQ
Address: 1421 US-52, Albemarle, NC 28001
Order: Chopped pork tray with red slaw, hush puppies, Cheerwine (link to menu)
Pricing: $

Monk: After lunch at Log Cabin BBQ and a short hike with the Monkettes at Morrow Mountain State Park, the plan was to hit up Whispering Pines on the way out of town back to Charlotte and maybe get the girls some dessert or ice cream. That is, until we pulled into the parking lot and I sadly realized it was drive through or curbside service only.

Nevertheless, once I realized the situation I got in one of two drive through lines and snapped a photo of the woodpile while waiting in line. That’s right, because while Log Cabin BBQ utilizes a gas assist wood smoker, Whispering Pines is all wood and deserved of their place on True Cue’s list of wood-smoked NC barbecue joints. Read a little more about the family behind both joints in my Log Cabin review linked above.

I ordered my tray, paid for it in cash (no cards accepted here), and headed to a Dairy Queen 20 minutes down the road in the town of Locust, NC. There, I ordered the Monkettes a Blizzard and cone and had some bites in the front seat of my car.

While the pork had less bark than what Log Cabin served, there was definitely a more pronounced wood smoke flavor. I wished I had eaten here first, and that I had been able to eat it inside the restaurant. I feasted off the leftover pork for a few more meals at home over the next few days, putting it on Martin’s potato rolls which made for a fantastic sandwich.

The slaw was a little too coarsely chopped for me, and maybe even a little on the sweet side. The hush puppies were standard.

Overall, a good experience (albeit takeout) from Whispering Pines BBQ. I will definitely try to make it back once they reopen inside dining.

Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – N/A
Pork – 4 hogs
Sides – 3.5 hogs
Overall – 4 hogs

Log Cabin BBQ – Albemarle, NC

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Name: Log Cabin BBQ
Address: 2322 US-52, Albemarle, NC 28001
Order: Chopped pork tray with red slaw, hush puppies, Cheerwine (link to menu)
Pricing: $

Monk: Albemarle, NC is a small town of less than 16,000 about an hour east of Charlotte on the Pee Dee River and bordering the Uwharrie National Forest. It’s also home to two well-regarded classic NC barbecue joints, each one stemming from the same family.

Lonnie Doby opened Whispering Pines in 1945 and later married Lavada Galloway. Lavada’s sister Edith and brother Darrell worked at Whispering Pines for some time before Edith and Darrell left to open Darrell’s BBQ in nearby Rockwell. Eventually, Edith purchased the building for Wink’s Barbecue in 1991 with one of her sons and renamed it to Log Cabin Bar-B-Que. We’ll get to Whispering Pines soon, but we’ll start with Log Cabin BBQ this week.

Log Cabin is not just a clever name, and dark wood lines the interior of the restaurant which is more or less your classic NC barbecue restaurant setup with waitress-serviced tables where you pay up front.

What wasn’t clear was whether or not Log Cabin was a classic NC joint that still smoked with wood. True ‘Cue lists Log Cabin as an all wood-smoked joint but The Great NC BBQ Map says its a wood-assisted gasser. Out back is a big enclosed smokehouse, however I wasn’t able to place eyes on their setup to confirm which source had their information right. After some digging, it appears that The Great NC BBQ Map had it right (I believe they called each restaurant to confirm cooking method, so makes sense) and Log Cabin uses what looks to be a Southern Pride rotisserie based on the smoker photos I could find.

Nevertheless, the chopped pork that came out had decent smoke and with some dashes of the table vinegar sauce it really sang.

Log Cabin offers both a red and a white slaw though their red slaw curiously came with bits of diced green peppers, something I hadn’t seen before. The freshly-fried hush puppies came in larger orbs and only 3 per tray but were quite good.

While Log Cabin BBQ may not be carrying on the tradition of wood-smoked North Carolina barbecue, they do serve some great pork. Plus, it’s part of a great story of a family’s barbecue legacy that isn’t too widely known from what I can see.

Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 3.5 hogs
Pork – 3.5 hogs
Sides – 3.5 hogs
Overall – 3.5 hogs

Linkdown: 4/10/19

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